Sunday, April 5, 2009

After Iowa: What now?

I'm still reeling from the news Friday that the Iowa Supreme Court has struck down the law in Iowa that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. And it was a unanimous decision -- not one justice dissented. I'm not sure what I expected to happen, but I certainly never imagined a unanimous decision declaring the law unconstitutional. I'm having a hard time believing that not one justice in the "breadbasket of America" defended the traditional definition of marriage. Some legislators, though, are doing what one might expect in the heartland: mobilizing to amend the Iowa Constitution. House Joint Resolution 6 would alter the Iowa Constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. I imagine this would work like Proposition 8 did in California, then, except that the process in Iowa for amending the Constitution is much more difficult. Apparently, an amendment must pass two consecutive sessions of the legislature in order to get on the ballot, and then the citizens get to vote. This will take at least 2 years (and that's if HJR 6 can get to the floor for a vote before the legislature adjourns their session in less than one month.)

So what now, then? I guess we roll up our sleeves and keep fighting.

3 comments:

  1. Wwwwhhhhaaa? This happened in Iowa? How many same sex couples can there be in Iowa? 100? So this court decision represents the state...how?

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  2. Who cares? Gays can get married, why don't we spend our time focusing on something a little more important like jobs or poverty?

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  3. Dear Anonymous,

    I'm not sure where you've been, but it's pretty obvious that a lot of people care. As regards jobs or poverty, why can't we care about more than one thing at a time?

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